Farmers and Ranchers in Abilene, Texas, which about 160 miles southeast of Lubbock, Texas, have a good reason to be concerned about the state of affairs surrounding the estate tax debate. While the current estate tax exemption is high, many large commercial ranchers could suffer from the potential tax liability that there ranches could incur based upon the value of their property. For example, if the owner of the property dies and bequeaths his land and ranch to another, the value of property that exceeds the exemption would be taxed. This is a particular problem for ranches because the same wealth that triggers the tax is the only wealth that they have to pay the tax. This forces ranchers and farmers to sell portions of their livelihood to pay the tax. If the estate tax were to increase and the exemption decrease, this could cause problems for ranchers in Texas and many other places where people farm. At the moment, Congress has not acted upon whether it will extend the Bush era tax cuts.